Spoilt over Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year with family and friends. I know I haven't blogged in almost a month *guilty face*. I was travelling in Hong Kong and Beijing just before the holiday celebrations, and when the New Year had arrived, I had to pack furiously to move to a new city for a new job. If you're a girly girl, you know that having to pack only the things you need for now is an extremely tedious task. How is any girl suppose to pick ONLY the shoes they need? I need ALL my shoes!!! And ALL my makeup! And what about the flat iron, or the cute tops, etc... Packing was a job and a half, but now that I've almost settled in, I've finally had time to take pictures of the makeup goodies I was so lucky to receive over Christmas.

Dior Cannage Couture Collection All Over Makeup Palette 


Ok this make up set I purchased as a Christmas gift for myself while I was flying to Beijing. Can you believe you can shop even while you're travelling in the air? I purchased this on the Dragon Air flight I was on from their inflight shopping magazine. It's the Dior Cannage Couture Collection All Over Makeup Palette. It costs $610 HKD which is around R620. The mak up palette consists of 2 makeup brushes, mascara, black eyeliner, 6 eyeshadows, 2 lip sticks, 2 lip glosses and an all over face highlighter and powder, in a sleek, compact pleather zip-up case!! I fell in love with it when I saw it in the magazine! It contains the perfect combination of colours to transform your day make up into night make up and so handy to carry around in your hand bag for touch ups. I thought that this would be a suitable gift to splurge on myself because I will be working soon and this makeup palette is compact enough to take to work with me.

I haven't used any of the makeup in this palette yet because right now, it's too beautiful to even consider touching (silly of me, I know...). But I'll definitely use this palette soon now that work is about to start.

Dior Blue-Tie Evening Essentials Smoky Eyes & Nude Lips 02 Palette

This makeup palette I was lucky (SOOOOO LUCKY!!) to receive as a Christmas gift. You should have seen how my mouth was hanging open when I unwrapped the gift wrap! I was like NOOO...WAY...!!! I've always been too cheap to splurge on Dior, even though it is one of my favourite makeup brands. It comes in a gorgeous silver case, with the signature Dior indents and even comes in a velvet pouch (similar to Chanel). As you can see from the picture, there are 4 eyeshadows and a lip stick compartment. Super stunning! I think this palette was from the Christmas 2011 Collection.

I also haven't touched this palette yet, because I am still in the process of admiring its beauty and glamour :)

Smashbox Behind the Lens Holiday Prime and Set Kit

I received this kit as a Christmas gift as well (I was soooo spoilt!). It contains one of Smashbox's best primers, the Photo Finish Oil-Free Foundation Primer. I've used their Bronzing Primer and I love it, so I can't wait to use this! It comes with the Smash Box Photo Set Finishing Powder as well which I've been dying to try!











Nars Eyeshadow in Strada

If you've read one of my Wish-List Wednesday posts, you would have seen that I wanted to purchase the Nars "All About Cheeks" palette. Unfortunately they did not sell this palette in Hong Kong, so I purchased a single eyeshadow instead. They had so many different colours, it was such a difficult task to pick one. Eventually I picked this colour called "Strada" which is a amethyst infused with gold colour. The colour was so unique that I had to buy it!

I've used this eyeshadow twice already, and will write a detailed review on this product soon.

Just wanted to write a post so that you know that I haven't given up on blogging or died a tragic death while courageously walking along the Great Wall :)

Let me know which of my goodies you like :)

Wish-List Wednesday: Clarisonic Cleansing System

This week's "Wish-List" product may be familiar if you watch alot of youtube videos, it's the Clarisonic Cleansing System. The Clarisonic Cleaning System is a popular beauty product that is used for cleansing the skin and claims to improve the condition of your skin through regular use.

On its website, it states that it uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth skin. In just 1 minute, the brush gently, yet thoroughly removes 6X more makeup and 2X more dirt and oil than manual cleansing alone. It states that removing these impurities has been shown to allow a 61% better absorption of Vitamin C, and better prepares skin for other products and is highly recommended by spas and dermatologists.  Throught regular use, it claims to give you healthier skin which is smoother, more radiant and more beautiful.

How it works is that you simply charge it on its cradle. When you want to use it, you remove it from the cradle, wet your skin and apply your cleanser on the Clarisonic brush head. Then using circular motions, apply the Clarisonic on your face and it will beep, signalling you to change the area you are cleansing. According to the instructions, it is 20 seconds on the forehead area, 20 seconds on the nose/chin area and 10 seconds on each cheek. It states that with just 1 minute a day, you can improve your skin through regular use and get smoother, more radiant and beautiful, healthy skin.

I would love LOVE LOVE to have one of these! Especially since I wear makeup 5/6 days of the week and the benefits that the Clarisonic promises are sooo appealing! I mean, which guy/girl doesn't want to have flawless, healthy skin? What I like is that they make different brush heads for different skin types, for example they make brush heads targetted for normal skin, sensitive skin, deep pore cleansing, delicate cleansing and even a brush head specifically for the body. Only problemo with this is that you obviously have to buy different brush heads if you want, and you need to replace them when they get old. I'm not sure how long you can use a brush head until you have to replace it, but it may be difficult to replace if you stay in a place like South Africa that doesn't sell the Clarisonic and there are some items that Amazon does not deliver to as well...

Since I am in Hong Kong, I googled to see whether I could purchase the Clarisonic here. There are two stores here that sells it and it costs around R2300! That's quite a bit. I read some reviews on it and every one who has used the Clarisonic raves about it and said how their skin has improved!!!  I would love to buy it but it is very expensive, and the thought of not being able to purchase brush heads conveniently once I'm back in South Africa is a little bit of a let-downer.

Have you heard of the Clarisonic? What are your thoughts on it? My mom says that it isn't good to wash your face with a machine because your skin can be easily damaged if washed so vigorously. My thinking is that it should be quite gentle since their brush heads are made from the same material that is used for high quality cosmetic brushes. And their website states that it is gentle enough to use the Clarisonic on your skin twice daily.

If anyone is interested in more information about the Clarisonic, check out their website for more information: http://www.clarisonic.com

Hong Kong: Sasa Beauty Haul!

Sasa is one of the most popular beauty supplies stores in Hong Kong. Any beauty product fanatic would literally be in heaven in this store! It has so many different kinds and types of beauty products you can literally browse for hours on end! I always get so indecisive when I visit Sasa (explains why I hang around for so long) because there are 100s of products to choose from. They sell all the regular international brands such as Maybelline, Revlon, Loreal but they also stock brands like iNuovi, a cosmetic brand from Singapore, Talika from France, and loads of korean and japanese makeup. Sasa has become so big that they even deliver internationally now (not sure whether it delivers to South Africa because I usually ask my mom to buy the goodies for me and bring it when she visits), but it is worth it to take a look at the website to compare how much more we are paying for high end brands like Dior, Lancome and the like in comparison! The prices should be in Hong Kong dollars which is similar to the Rand when you exchange it (depending on whether the Rand is being volatile or not). So check Sasa out www.sasa.com if you're interested :)

I went there today and picked up a few goodies. The individual products weren't expensive at all, but because of the amount I bought, it added up to around R620!! I almost fell over! But this is going to last me a while and I won't need beauty products for the next few months :) I thought I would share this for those who will visit Hong Kong in the future, or is looking to buy from their website.

So these are all the goodies I purchased from Sasa. I haven't used any of them yet, since I just bought them today, but as I start using them I will be posting reviews of each individual product.

 

1. Talika Lipocils Expert
Talika Lipocils Expert is a lashing growing serum that promises to help your lashes grow 36% longer, 50% darker and 50% curlier. I've used other Talika products before, including the conditioning serum and I wanted to try this out as well. Previously, I tried the Yumei Lash Conditioning Serum and my lashes grew quite a bit. My lashes are definitely much longer and more visible in photos. It comes with a foam applicator (similar to lipgloss packaging) and a mascara brush. According to the directions, you're suppose to use the foam applicator to apply the product at the root of the lashes and then use the mascara brush to apply the product to the lashes. It recommends applying on cleansed eyelashes, before applying any makeup and that you use this product twice a day, morning and evening to see results. This product was quite pricey (in comparison to the other products I bought), it costs around R148 and I got the mini version to see whether it would work before I bought the full sized one.

2. Japanese Eyelid Tape
I bought these eyelid tape for those days when my eyes are swollen and I need some help in the double eyelid department. I know eyelid tape is quite a controversial topic, but I'd rather use this than risk doing plastic surgery. I've used these tapes before. In my opinion, they have worked the best in comparison to the others I've used. They are sticky on both sides and I usually cut them in half because they are too long. The only annoying thing about these eyelid tapes is the unnecessary silver section that you need to pull off before application. These retail for around R24.

3. EOS Lip Balm in Honeysuckle Honeydew Some of you may recognise this product if you watch alot of makeup tutorials on youtube. I first saw this in one of Michelle Phan's videos and I immediately fell for the packaging. It is shaped in a cute, egg shape (never thought an egg shape could be so cute!) packaging. It is a 100% natural and 95% organic product and comes in 3 different flavours. I bought the one in "Honeysuckle Honeydew" because it smelt delicious.Can't wait to open this and use it!This retailed for R38

4. Heavy Rotation Glamorous Lip in Vanilla
I bought this because the lips on the package looks soooo pretty! (Damn why do I always fall for the images when I know they have been photoshopped...) From the packaging it looks like a pretty nude shade that you apply from the tube to your lips. What I liked was the brush tip that spreads the product on your lips. I love nudes because I always prefer to keep the lips plain and simple and amp up the eyes instead.

I think any girl who loves nude would love this. Seems like a good option to buy for  girls who tend to have dry lips like me, since many nude lipsticks can highlight dry skin on the lips.

5. Sasatinnie Waterproof Retractable Eye Definer 
I bought this pencil eyeliner in Brown because I wanted a more subtle liner to wear to work next year. I thought that this was a great beauty buy because it was super affordable, is waterproof and highly pigmented. There is also a built in sharpener to sharpen the pencil. I think Sasatinnie is a brand launched by Sasa itself, so I'm curious to try it out. According to the packaging it is manufactured in Germany. This product only retailed for R39.


6. Belle Madame Waterproof Eye Quickliner in No. 1 Very BlackBelle Madame is a Japanese brand and I bought this because a girl can never have enough eyeliner (sounds emo I know) but eyeliner is one of my favourite and must-have products. It can dramatically change the shape of your eyes and if I could only have one makeup product in my life, it would be eyeliner. I bought this because this pencil looks like it is easily smudgable and because it is very black! It also states that it is waterproof so I'm curious to see whether the product lives up to what it claims. Again, the packaging got me... This set me back by R29 only :) I was very tempted to buy two!!!! But I resisted... *sad face...

7. Heavy Rotation Marker Pen Eyeliner in Super Black
I wanted to buy a liquid liner because the one that I was using (Smashbox's Limitless Liquid Liner Pen in Jet Black) is finished and even though I have black gel liner, I always prefer to have a liquid liner at hand. The reason being that with gel liner, you have to constantly wash the brush every day and it may get quite tedious when you're busy. I bought this because it states that it lasts for up to 24 hours and the liner is super black. This retailed for R72.

8. Sasatinnie Super Dolly Heated Eyelash Curler
I bought an additional heated eyelash curler because the one I currently have looks like it is going to give up on my any second. This one only costs R52!! Which is a heck load cheaper than if you had to buy a heated lash curler in South Africa! This is a definite must-have product for girls with lashes that don't curl easily. It works the best when you use this after you've applied your mascara. All you do is wait a bit for the lash curler to heat up, and apply it to the base of your lashes to help it curl upwards. Works like a bomb!

9. Fairydrops Mascara
Fairydrops is a Japanese makeup brand and I've heard their mascara being mentioned a few times on youtube. I thought I would try this since it promises to give volume, extra curl without clumping, which is exactly what I need. From the packaging it appears that the brush is quite interesting. I definitely hope that it lives up to what it claims! Can't read japanese so I can't tell whether it is waterproof. But the packaging is quite adorable. This retails for R88.

10. Mentholatum Lip Therapy
The final product isn't as glam as the other products, but I wanted to try this because my lips have been very dry lately. I thought I would try this because it contains quite a number of ingredients that is hydrating and moisturising, namely aloe vera, chamomilla recutita flower oil, mentol, eucalyptus and globulus leaf oil which all nourish the lips. In addition, it contains olive oil, shea butter, squalane and almond oil for long lasting care. This retailed for R22.60 so I thought it would be nice to try.



That's my Sasa beauty haul! Don't think I can afford to purchase anymore products. From now on I'm just going to try my best to ignore all Sasa shops...  (eeeekkkk!) There were so many other things I would have loved to try but I had to pick what I wanted to try the most. So let me know which products appeal to you the most :) I would love to hear what you think of my haul.